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VideoVolunteers uploaded a new video
(19 hours ago)
Development authority displaces Tribals in Malegaon, Maharashtra.
One morning, a Bhil adivasi settlement on the outskirts of Malegaon city were info...
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Development authority displaces Tribals in Malegaon, Maharashtra.
One morning, a Bhil adivasi settlement on the outskirts of Malegaon city were informed by the Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA) that they had to vacate their houses and fields within 24 hours and make way for a sprawling urban apartment complex meant to house 25,000 people. The people approached the authorities with government documents which verified that the land rightfully belonged to the community. The authorities replied that since the village now came under the jurisdiction of Malegaon city, the papers were now meaningless. The bulldozers arrived and plundered ancestral houses and fields to the dust and overnight, 25 tribal families of what was once a village named Mhalade lost their livelihoods and became homeless.
Mhalade was a functioning village with water and sanitation facilities. It also housed a primary health and education centre. Most of the families owned land and worked on their fields. Agriculture provided them with the sustenance they required. Now, the village has been reduced to a scattering of make-shift slums with no water, no toilets and no schools, on the periphery of what was once their land.
The authorities have refused to comment on rehabilitation. The people allege that while they have approached the mainstream media there has not been a single word or image on the injustice done to them. IndiaUnheard Community Correspondent Anand Pagare, a veteran community journalist, who produced a video documenting the plight of the community says,? They had not just been displaced but they had also been silenced.?
Alienating the tribals from their land has continued at an alarming pace across the country. The reason given is mostly somewhere in between the twin concepts of ?progress? and ?development?. The state of Maharashtra, in spite of passing laws protecting and restoring tribal land, has a poor record. According to the Annual Report 2007-08 of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, 45,634 cases have been reported and filed in the state. 44,624 cases have been disposed off by the court, of which 19,943 cases (44.7%) involving 99,486 acres of land have been disposed of in favour of tribals and 24,681 cases (55.3%) against tribals. It is estimated that the number of unreported cases are even higher.
For a public institution like MHADA, cheating a marginalized community by exploiting a loophole is a new low. ?The people are protesting but the world moves on chanting ?progress and development?,? said Anand. As the nation celebrates the increasing urbanisation of its land, a sprawling apartment complex juxtaposed with a smattering of slums seems like a vision for the future.
?It is important that the country hears Mhalade?s story,? says Anand ,?If you?re a marginalized community staying in rural idea, one day you will rudely awaken to the rumbling of bulldozers tearing down your house.?
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VideoVolunteers uploaded a new video
(1 day ago)
MGNREGA in Rajpur, M.P., defrauds the unemployed.
As elections approach and the Mahtama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is being feat...
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MGNREGA in Rajpur, M.P., defrauds the unemployed.
As elections approach and the Mahtama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is being featured in the propaganda as one the largest public welfare schemes implemented in the nation, the ultimate success of the scheme is increasingly being debated. Accusations of fraud and corruption have been periodically raised. Today?s video by IndiaUnheard Community Correspondent Rakesh Khanna documents a public protest outside Rajpur District and Block Headquarters in Rajpur, Madhya Pradesh. The powerful video offers damning evidence of a welfare scheme whose intentions have been turned upside down and a system that is rife with corruption. A crowd of over 1000 have peacefully occupied the streets demanding the work and benefits promised to them under the scheme.
Under the MGNREGA, the unemployed adults of the community are supposed with the local authorities. After 15 days of verification and other formailities the applicants receive ?job cards?. The Job Card holder can then approach the village authorities and make a petition for appropriate employment. If the card holder does not receive employment within 14 days of the petition, they are paid an unemployment allowance. The entire process is free of cost and anyone over the age of 18 can apply.
The authorities in charge at Rajpur though have illegally monetized this subsidised system. They were charging anywhere between the Rs. 500 to Rs. 1000 in order to register applicants and issue ID cards. The corruption is not just located at the district headquarters but also at village and block levels. The unemployed villagers who even otherwise struggle to make ends meet finally got organized and decided to protest. But as the rally approached the headquarters the officers got whiff of it and instead of facing the demands of the crowd, they made a quick cheeky escape after locking the office down.
?Who are they to shut the government office down on a working day?? asks a weary protestor.
The accusations against the officers at the Rajpur Block and District headquarters is not just that they have looted and cheated some of the poorest people in the community but as public servants holding office they have shamelessly refused to listen to their public?s grievances. And yet again, the money for a public welfare act ends up lining some government official?s private coffer.
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VideoVolunteers uploaded a new video
(2 days ago)
In North East India, National Holidays mean ?Curfew?.
Effective from 6 p.m. today evening, Manipur and majority of India?s North East go into a stat...
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In North East India, National Holidays mean ?Curfew?.
Effective from 6 p.m. today evening, Manipur and majority of India?s North East go into a state of curfew for more than 24 hours. On 25th January as the country is gearing up for the celebrations attending Republic Day, the 62ndanniversary of the nation adopting its own constitution, the North East descends into the gloom and oppression of a police state. ?Ever since my childhood, I thought Independence Day and Republic day are holidays meant to be spent inside the house watching television,? says Mercy Kamei, a firebrand human rights activist and IndiaUnheard Community Correspondent from Imphal, Manipur.
Every year on the eve of the two national holidays, the insurgents declare a bandh and the government reacts with a curfew and by heavily militarizing even the civilian areas. According to Mercy, it is impossible for the people to venture outdoors without being frisked. The streets are deserted and only the casualty wings of the hospitals are allowed to remain open. Mercy remarks that more than fear the deathly silence of a town in curfew on the eve of joyous celebration confuses and disillusions the people.
?There is something offensive about the way the police regard you as a suspect on the very days that the country got its freedom and its constitution respectively,? says Mercy.
The National Holiday curfew has become an age old routine in the North East. Only VIPs and other dignitaries get to hoist the flag and attend the parade while the common people are anxiously holed up inside their homes.
A violent riot in Guwahati Assam in 1968 on the eve of Independence day set the precedent for this biannual ritual. There have been no major instance of violence since but the cycle has remained. The insurgents declare bandh and the security forces come in with their guns and barricades. The people are shuffled between the two and are increasingly growing dissatisfied with the banal tableaux.
?These days a few corner shops stay open,? says Mercy, ?They need their daily income to support themselves. And it gives the people a chance to go outside and stretch their legs. It doesn?t exactly feel like being a citizen of a independent democratic republic but it is certainly better than sitting home and watching t.v.?
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VideoVolunteers uploaded a new video
(3 days ago)
Bridge underpass in Madhupur, Jharkand floods every monsoon.
?I was on my scooter on the way to the market when in place of safe underpass below the...
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Bridge underpass in Madhupur, Jharkand floods every monsoon.
?I was on my scooter on the way to the market when in place of safe underpass below the bridge, I came across this enormous pool of dirty water. The depth of the water would easily reach my knees and there was no way I could cross it on my vehicle. I saw people of all shapes and sizes ? the old aged, children, women, labourers, vendors crossing the dirty pond on their feet. I looked around to see if there was any other access road to the main market in my village. There was, but you had to put your life on the line and skip across the railway tracks. It was a terrible situation. I knew I had to make a video on it.?
Community Correspondent Mukesh Rajak from Madhupur district, Jharkhand produced a video documenting the utter breakdown of safe access to the main market of the entire district due to over flowing of the gutters in monsoon. The blockage in the gutters causes the water to flow into and collect in the underpass thus blocking the only road into the marketplace. The same road also joins the northern and southern parts of the town. The flooding stops the town in its tracks. People from all across are left with no option but to wade through the water or cross over the nearby railway tracks.
Railway tracks in India are unsuspecting death traps for those who chose to walk it. Every year over a 100 people die on the railway tracks and thousands more are grievously injured. In the monsoon, Madhupur too has seen its share of accidents and misfortunes to pedestrians. The flooding of the underpass has continued for over ten years casing much discomfort and even fatality among the local residents but the authorities have never done anything about it.
While the authorities should build an effective drainage for the underpass, they could put in a small effort in the meantime and clear the clogged gutter. ?I?m hoping that before the next rains arrive the authorities can take some action,? says Mukesh. As usual, he is out with video trying to show it to the concerned authorities in the
governance to persuade them to take adequate action and he has the
people?s voices on his side.
?This is problem has been going on for over ten years,? says a women in his video, when a frustrated pedestrian comes into the camera and says from behind her,? Not ten but a thousand.?
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VideoVolunteers uploaded a new video
(3 days ago)
People of India march from Gwalior to Delhi for land reforms
On 2nd October 2012, on the occasion of the international day of non violence, 100,000 ...
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People of India march from Gwalior to Delhi for land reforms
On 2nd October 2012, on the occasion of the international day of non violence, 100,000 of India?s most marginalized people- dalits, tribals, women, landless migrant labourers ? from across the country will march from the city of Gwalior. As a peaceful mob, they will steadily make their way north occupying the roads and highways with sheer numbers. 350 kilometres later, they enter the capital city of Delhi and there they will voices their demands and grievances to the powers that be. They ask for the justice that has been denied to them thus far. They ask for their rights and freedoms. 100,000 voices demand the land that is rightfully theirs.
The Jan Satyagraha 2012 is the initiative of the ngo Ekta Parishad, a massive campaign to ensure that the government implements the Land Reform Policies promised in 2009. As the conflict between the citizen and the state over land acquisition and developments increasingly turns violent, the Jan Satyagraha rally is intended as a peaceful and timely alternative which attempts to shift the government?s loyalties from the big corporations to the people. The campaign attempts to reform the
nation?s notoriously feudal land laws inherited from the colonial era and make them pro-people.
It is estimated that over 20 million Indians, most of them from dalit and tribal communities, have been displaced by development projects since Independence. In a recent survey in rural India, it was found that over 70% of people do not agree with the government?s plans and policies on land acquisition. But in the most undemocratic fashion, acquisition of land and displacement of life continue to be on the rise while the process of rehabilitation leaves much to be desired. It
is not just the land under siege but livelihoods as well. 52% of India is yet agrarian and lives off the land. The government current policy and stance is allowing the big corporations to push into and monopolize the farmer?s market, condemning millions of people to unemployment, poverty and hunger.
Jan Satyagraha 2012 is itself born out of a people?s movement called Janadesh which successfully caught the attention of the government and the expedited the process of the formulation of the Land Reform Policy. But the reforms has since remained in limbo prompting the Ekta Parishad and the common people of India to once again voice their demands. Rajgopal P.V., President of Ekta Prishad says in his notes to the people, ?Janadesh 2007 was a big challenge for all of us. Many
people had raised serious doubts about whether 25,000 people could walk for a month. Is it possible for so many people survive for such a long time on a foot march with one meal a day? Will the Government ultimately listen to the voice of the poor people? Or will they be chased by the law and order? Having experienced Janadesh and also the power of the poor and marginalized people, many of these doubts have been cleared away. I am sure larger number of people will support Jan Satyagraha 2012 March.?
IndiaUnheard Community Correspondent Varsha, a veteran of people?s movements and campaigns, is excited to a part of this ambitious vision. She says,? Land is power in India. So if you want to give power to the people, if you?re talking of empowering dalits and tribals and the women, give them the right to their lands. This
genesis of the campaign has been a long process but now the time has come to take to the streets.?
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